NOS News•
In Barcelona, the Catalan separatist and MEP Clara Ponsatí was arrested and released under conditions after a few hours. She had just returned to Spain a few hours after five years of exile.
An arrest warrant had been issued against Ponsatí in Spain for her part in the Catalan independence referendum in 2017. That much-discussed vote was banned by the Spanish court, but was nevertheless held on October 1, 2017. Four weeks later, the regional parliament declared independence.
The government in Madrid then took over the regional administration and the government of regional president Puigdemont was deposed. He, Ponsatí and other leaders of the separatist movement then fled. Ponsatí has since lived in Belgium and Scotland.
Yesterday, Ponsatí crossed the border into Spain by car from France. For what reason is not clear. In Barcelona, she held a press conference and was cheered by supporters of the Catalan independence movement. Moments later she was apprehended outside. According to the broadcaster RTVE Ponsatí referred in vain to her immunity as an MEP.
Ponsatí was released under conditions at the end of the evening. She must report to the Supreme Court on April 24. There she is on trial for “disobedience” regarding the organization of the referendum. The politician can be fined or banned from public functions for a longer period of time.
Former regional president and Ponsatí’s fellow fighter Carles Puigdemont has dismissed the arrest as illegal. “But in Spain the rule of law does not play a major role anyway,” he wrote on Twitter. Puigdemont has also not been to Spain since the referendum.
